Method of producing vacuum-tube-lamp envelopes of special design



I June 10, 1930. 1 c, S L E 1,763,071

' I P ENVELO i M I lN VVVV OR ROBERT c SMALLEY j BYYZZZE ATTORN EYS June10, 1930. v R. c. SMALLEY 1,763,071

METHOD OF PRODUCING VACUUM TUBE LAMP ENVELOPES OF SPECIAL DESIGN Fil edJune 2. 192a 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 INVENTOR ROBERT c. ISMALLEY ATTORNEYSPatented June '10, 1930 UNITED STATE PATENT OFFICE ROBERT (1.SMALLEY, OFARLINGTON, NEW- JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO CLAUDE NEON LIGHTS, ING, OF NEWYORK, Y A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK mnon or rnonucme vacuum-museumssnvnrorns or SPECIAL nearer Applicatiomflled Inns 2, re2e.- Serial no.113,808.

This invention relates to vacuum tube lights such for example as thewell-known neon 1i hts in which a column of more or less rarefie gas, asfor example neon, contained 5 in a transparent envelope, is caused toglow' by the passage of an electric current therethrough and moreparticularly my invention-v contemplates an improved method for pro.-ducing vacuumtube lights of special design such as words written in acharacteristicway,

andthelike' x It is an obj ect-of this invention to provide a convenientand simple method for makingspecial tubes which will eliminate thedelay, inconvenience and inaccuracies of the oldmethod.

It is a further object of thisinvention to- I believe to becharacteristic ofmv invention are pointed out, with particularity inthe, appended claims. My invention itself however, both -'as to itsunderlying principles and as to its practical embodiments will best'beunder stood by reference to the specification and accompanying drawingsin which:

I Figure" 1 illustrates the first stage of my method after the proposeddesign has been laid out. on paper; a Figures 2 and 3 are respectivelyplan and elevation views'of'the lay-out in the second sta e ofthemethod;

it has been formed or worked to the esired design;'and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the completed lamp or light mounted ona base ready for operation.

igure 4 is a plan view of the tubin I after ofiglass tubingemto thedesired design was "a te Lamps of the class described are usually usedin advertising signs and are frequently formed in the shape of wordssuch as trademarks, characteristic design and the like. In the pastitha's been customary to make such lamps by first laying out the desireddesign in actual size upon paper. This paper was then placed upon a workbench and the glassblower proceeded to take sections of tubing and workthem as near as possible to the desired design. He usually providedhimself or witha numberofspacing blocks which might be placed uponthe-paper to sup ort the. tube in process of being. worked out 0 contactwith the paper -to'avoid burning the same and upon which the tubingrested while bein worked. In forming .the tubing he woul bend the tubeas far as possible to correspond with the design while sighting down atthe design. 'Since the tubing was spaced from the paper carrying thedesign, paralax caused inaccuracies in the bending and otherdisadvantages were encountered.

I In certain words and designs-it is-necessary that the tubing be bentback upon itself as for exam le, in the small letter d; if this is to bejoined to a following letter the tubing must be bent upon itself'overpractically the entire distance of the vertical line of. the d.

' In such cases it is preferable to bend the tubing back upon itselfandbehind itself. In so the formation of such letters according to theold process it was necessary for the glass blower therefore to bend orsplice tubing under a piece of tubing already in position which wasneces ,arily difficult and awkward and resulted in delays and thereforehampered production of the lamps.

- Moreover the bulbs containing the electrode had to be spliced "on andwhenthe tubin was worked as above described the bulbs ha to be splicedon between the tubing already in position, and the. table; in otherwords in the space afiorded bytlres acin blocks. or these reasons andforo ers t e formation ions and uncertain process, and the productfrequently failed to conform to the design as well as might be desired.

According to my invention I eliminate the necessity for the spacingblocks, the necessity for working the tubing under and behind tubingalrea :ly in osition, and the guess work in shaping the tu ing to thedesired design by laying out the design to actual size and in reverse onnon-combustible and heatinsulating material such as asbestos paper orcloth and by carrying on the forming and bending operations on the glasstubing while it is lying directly upon and in contact with the asbestospaper.

Since the tubing lies upon the paperand the design traced thereon is ofthe same size as the tubing, the accuracy of working the tubing isgreatly increased, as the tubing may be heated and shaped to lieprecisely upon the design. Moreover. reverse bends are made by bendingthe tubing down above tubing already in position instead of bending itunderneath tubing in position as was the case in the old method andfurthermore, in attaching the bulbs containing the electrodes, the endsof the tubing are simply bent up and the bulbs spliced on to projectupwardly instead of downwardly. After the tube has been formed to thedesired shape, the asbestos sheet carrying the design may be filed awayand as will be readily understood, forms a permanent fire-proof recordor pattern of the tube which may be utilized laterif additional tubes ofthe same pattern are desired.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 1. suppose it is desired toproduce a vacuum tube light showing the Word Ace written as shown inFigure 1. The artist or designer will lay out the word in the style andsize desired upon an ordinary sheet of paper 1. The outlines of thedesign may then be traced by perforations as for example by utilizing aperforating wheel 2 which is run over the lines of the design leaving aline of perforationsfi. L

The sheet 1 carrying the design will then be placed face downward andsecured in positlon upon a suitable sheet of asbestos paper or cloth 4.Suitable marking material such as lamp black may then be dusted ordistributed over the sheet 1 and more particularly upon the lines ofperforations forming little piles 5. The lamp black may then be rubbedthrough the perforations b the fingers or a suitable tool, after which te paper may be removed and the design will be outlined as a IlllIlOlimage of the artists layout, in black upon the asbestos sheet.

This sheet may then be plaeedupon the glass blowers work bench and thetubing formed as already described by taking ordinary tubing 10, makingthe necessary bends 11 and splicing where desirable. The glass blowermay for example in making the let.

ter A as shown in Figure t make the'bend 11 at the apex of the LA thenan additional bend to form the cross bar of the A.

At this point, where it is necessary to a reverse bend, instead offinding it necessary to bend under the cross bar ahead in position aswould have been the case In the old method, he may now make a bend insuch manner that the reversely bent portion 12 lies above the cross barof the A. In a similar manner in the reverse bend of the 0, portion 12which according to the old method would have been made under the alreadyformed portion is now made on top and finally in splicing on the bulbs14 containing the electrodes 15 a simple upward bend is made on thetubing and the bulbs spliced thereto. The lamp envelope is now completedand is ready for exhausting, filling and sealing. After completion, thelamp may be suitably supported upon the base 16 in such manner that thebulbs 14 are concealed behind the base 16 and the lamp tubing passesthrough suitable holes 17 therein. If new suitable voltage be appliedbetween the electrodes the illuminated word Ace will appear in the samestyle as laid out by the artist or designer.

While I have shown and described certain preferred embodiments of myinvention it will be understood that modifications and changes may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as willbe readily understood by those skilled in the art.

What I claim is: V

1. The method of producing a vacuum tube lamp envelope of predetermineddesign which comprises laying out the design in reverse onnon-combustible material and working the envelope tubing in contacttherewith to fit said design.

2. The method of producing a luminous tube envelope of predetermineddesign which comprises laying out the design in reverse onnon-combustible and heat-insulating material, and 'working the envelopetubing in contact therewith to fit said design.

3. The method of producing a luminous tube envelope of predetermineddesign which comprises laying out the design upon relatively thinfibrous material, transferring the design in reverse to heat resistantmaterial, and working the envelope tubing in contact therewith to fitsaid design.

4.- The method of producing a luminous tube envelope of predetermineddesign which comprises laying out the design upon paper, transferringthe design in reverse to noncombustible and heat-insulating material andworking the envelope tubing in contact therewith to fit said design.

5. The method of producing a luminous tube envelope of predetermineddesign which comprises laying out the design upon-relatively thinfibrous material, transferring the design in reverse to non-combustiblematerial and working the envelope tubing in contact with said materialto fit said design.

6. The method of producing a luminous tube envelope of predetermineddesign which comprises laying out the design upon paper, transferringthe design in reverse to heat resistant material and working theenvelope r tubing in contact with said material to fit said design.

7. The method of producing a luminous tube envelope of predetermineddesign which comprises laying out the design upon relatively thinfibrous-material, perforating said fibrous material along the lines ofthe design, placing the fibrous material carryin the design upon heatresistant material, istributwhich com rises other ortions substantiallyat ri ing marking material over said fibrous material to pass throughsaid perforations and to 0 transfer the design in reverse to said heatresistant material, and working the envelope tubing in contact therewithto fit said design.

8. The method of producing a luminous tube envelope of predetermineddesign which .the desi tubing of predetermined design which compriseslaying out the design in reverse on a surface. and working the tubing incontact therewith to fit the said design. I v

14. The method of producing a luminescent tube sign, which compriseslaying out the tube 1n contact therewith to fit said design, andmounting theshapedtubing on abuse.

15. The method of making a sign of luminescent tubing comprising thesteps of laying .out the design in reverse, and bending the tubin toconform to the design in reverse,

where y the normally hidden return bends of the tubing are on the sidetoward the operator. J In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my handthis 21 da of ay 1926.

. no ERT e. SMALLEY.

comprises laying out the design u on paper,

tracing the lines of the design wit a perfo-,

rator, placing the perforated pa r face downward in contact with a sheetp asbestos j a paper, distributing marking material upon I rial, workingthe envelope to fit the desi and bending the said other portions in arection away from the non-combustible material.

10. The method of producin a vacuum tube envelope of predeterminedesignwhich comprises la ing out the design in reverse on a sheet of asestos and workin the envelope in contact therewith to fit sai design.

11. The method of producing a vacuum.

tube lamp envelope of predetermined design ayin out the desi upon paper,er orating the aper along 1: elmes of the esign, placing t e paperdesign in reverse upon a sheet ofasbestos, distributing lam black overthe paper to pass through the per orations and to transfer the design inreverse to the asbestos, and working the envelope tubing incontacttherewith to fit said esign.

12. The method of making a of luminescent tubing, comprisin the steps ofla out the design of thetu ing as a positive, transferring the desigq inreverse to a heat resistant surface, and bending the tubing to I conformto the design in reverse, whereby the i normally hidden return bends ofthe tubing are on the side toward the operator:

13. The method of producing luminescent in-reverse on a surface," shapmgy

